Ball cock



Jan. 26, 1954 G. R. BENNETT BALL COCK Filed June 22 1951 INVENTOR.

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Patented Jan. 26, 41954 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ICE BALL COCK George R. Bennett, Waltham, Mass. Application June 22, 1951, Serial No. 232,889

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to ball cocks, or float-operated valves, for flush tanks and other liquid supply tanks wherein it is desired to attain automatically a predetermined level of liquid.

The invention has as its object the provision of a novel and improved ball cock having advantages in general over prior structures through being more durable and less likely to get out of order, simpler and cheaper to manufacture and assemble, and capable of installation in standard flush tanks either as original equipment or as replacements for similar structures of older design. A specic object is to provide an improved form of hush tube, so-called, or underwater discharge pipe, which cannot possibly fall ofi; this is aimed to remedy a common faultl with prior structures, especially of the commonest type in which a laterally and then downwardly extending passage is formed for the water in the valve body, and equipped on its end with a small section of hush pipe threaded and screwed into the outlet of the downwardly extending passage and reaching down toward the bottom of the tank. These hush pipes are made of very thin stock to give them maximum internal diameter, and hence the threads attaching them to the valve body are shallow and fine and are prone to be eaten 01T by chemicals or gases in solution in the water, releasing the hush pipe which falls 01T and is incapable of being restored securely to position even when replaced by a new one, as the threads are gone within the valve member, thus requiring either the removal and rethreading of the valve member with installation of an oversized hush pipe, or the replacement of the valve member or 1 the whole unit, or else enduring the annoyancev of a noisy toilet. y

A further specific object of the invention is to provide a ball cock which can be taken apart with the fingers by any householder to replace a worn valve washer, and reassembled by him in working order without the assistance of a plumber, while still providing an easy-working and sensitive valve-operating mechanism utilizing the available leverage with maximum efciency.

A further object is to provide a structure having anti-siphoning characteristics.

Other objects of the invention, and the manner of their attainment are as set forth in the accompanying description.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a part sectional elevation of the improved ball cock.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the valve body, showing a portion of the refill pipe.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the valve body.

Fig. 4 is an alternative form of the ports in the valve body discharging into the hush tube,

made Vin a plane corresponding to line 4--4 of Fig. 1.

The valve body I of my improved ball cock has the usual pair of lugs 3 to receive a pivot pin 1, preferably of the usual thumb-nut-type, on which the float-arm is pivoted. The stem 4 of the copper ball oat (not shown) is screwed into the socket 9 in oat-arm 5, and the movable valve member I I with the usual leather faucet Washer I2 fixed in place in the cavity I3 in the lower end thereof by screw I4, works inside the large diameter of body I to close the end I5 of the axial supply passage I6 through valve body I. The valve body is screwed into the upper end of a feed tube Il which extends through the customary hole I8 in the bottom of the flush tank I9, the tube being sealed into this hole by the usual bevel washer 2I of rubber, with jam nuts 23, 25, provided with wide integral flanges 24 threaded onto the outside of the bottom end of tube I'I serving to force the bevel washer 2l into the hole I8 in known manner. V Supply pipe 21 connected with a source of water supply extends into feed tube I1, the joint being closed by packing 28 within inwardly flanged nut 29 screwed onto the end of feed tube I1.

The connection between the float-arm 5 and the valve member II is eiected by forming a cup 38 in the arm and a corresponding cup 40 in the upper end of valve member II, and insertinga thrust member 39 in the form of a short piece of cylindrical rod with its rounded ends respectively within the cups 38 and 40. `Since the water pressure within supply passage I6 serves to lift the valve member off of its seat I5 whenever the ball oat drops through a lowering of the water level in the tank, and the only useful function of the ball oat is to close the valve when the water level again rises to the desired point, 'all that is needed is some means of transmitting downward pressure from float-arm 5 to the valve member. The thrust member 39 does this efciently with a minimum of friction losses,'as the rolling of the rounded ends of thrust member 39 in the cups permits the opposing ends of the valve member and of the float-arm to travel in their respective different paths without the usual sliding type of friction arising at' this point in prior structures which under the relatively heavy pressure required to close the valve tight causes wear and chatter damaging the parts vand causing noisy action. What wear occurs between the ends of thrust member 39 and the cups is both of minimum amount and of such nature as will not impair the action, At the same time, the removal and replacement of valve member I I to renew the washer I2 is a task of the utmost simplicity, requiring merely the unscrewing of the pivot 'I' with the ngers, and lifting off float-arm 5 and thrust member 39, whereupon valve mem- 3 ber II is withdrawn from the passage in valve body I, the washer I2 replaced, and the parts put back by a reversal of these operations, the only tool required being the screw driver employed to' turn screw I4.

The novel hush tube 33 or discharge pipe is disposed around and in concentric relation with feed tube I'I, and receives the water allowed to pass valve seat I5 when the valve is opened, through a plurality of radially disposed ports 3l normally closed by the sides ofvalve member II and extending from the valve chamber in which valve member II works, through the walls of the valve body I to the space between the latter and the interior wall of hush tube 33. The water then descends within hush tube 33 and around feed tube I'I, and is discharged through ports 35 located close to the bottom end of hush tube 33 and below the surface of the residual depth of Iwater left in the flush tank at the end of each iiushing operation. The discharge from the improved device is thus made underwater at all times. The hush tube is secured against all possibility of escape by being seated with a press t in a recess 36 formed in the under side of a flange 31 integral with valve body I, while the foot of the hush tube is engaged by ange 24 of nut 23 which is screwed upward on feed pipe I'I until such an'ge takes tight bearing against the foot of the hush tube, the rim of the ange being provided with ats for this purpose, the nut portion 23 holding the tube in con-centric relation with the feed tube 'I. When installed in the tank, this nut 23 with its flange 24 is held against any possi-bility of shifting, and the hush tube 33, being supported at both ends, and thus confined against endwise movement, cannot possibly get out of working position. As is obvious, a simple collar or washer sliding on the feed tube and replacing nut 23, will both support the hush tube 33 and engage the rubber washer y2`I to x the assembly in the tank, when nut 25 is tightened.

Since the water is released into 'the tank through a plurality of relatively small ports 35, at a velocity ywhich has been substantially reduced through causing it to make three rightangle turns after leaving the supply passage IE, and through discharging it into the much greater space within hush tube 33, the valve is characterized by extreme quietness of action.

As a further means of silencing the flow, an oblique arrangement of the discharge passages from' the valve chamber to the interior of the hush tube is employed in certain instances. Thus, instead of the radial arrangement of the ports 3I employed in Fig. 1, the obliquely or nearly tangentially arranged passages of Fig. 4 discharging obliquely to the radii of feed tube I1, are employed to impart a spiral or swirling course to the water descending within hush tube 33, which makes for a slower descent of the water within the hush tube and a gentler and quieter discharge from the ports 35.y

The construction and arrangement of all the parts used are such as to enable them to be made with the simplest and least expensive of machining operations.v Thus the finishing of the passage, I5, the valve chamber, and the valve seat within valve member I is performed as one operation with a suitably designed reamer, followed bythe boring of the discharge 'ports 3| or 45 and the boring' of the lugs 3 and the tapping of one thereof, with the addition of the exterior threadingjof the valve body and the finishing of the recess 36, to complete the valve body as thus described. The exterior finishing and the boring and tapping of valve member =II are even simpler. With the exception of the simple construction of fioat-arm 5, the rest of the parts are stock items, or standard shapes requiring little work to be done on them, thus enabling the entire ball cock to be manufactured and sold at a low figure while attaining improved operation and greatly extended life in use.

Where a rell tube 42 is required, a boss 4I is provided on lvalve body I in which a passage 43 communicating with recess 36 is bored and tapped to receive the threaded end of rell pipe 42.

To prevent siphoning of the tank contents back into the water supply line, an anti-Siphoning breather hole y44 of small diameter leading from recess 3B to the exterior of valve body I is provided.

While I have illustrated and described a certain form in which the invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art. without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in 'the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular form shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but

What I do claim is:

1. A ball cock having in combination a feed tube, a discharge pipe, a float-actuated valve member, and a valve body screwed into the passage through the feed tube and gripping the outward surface of the discharge pipe and thus holdingthe two tubes in concentric relation, such body having a plurality of ports discharging liq- .uid in a plane atright angles to the axis of the feed tube and obliquely to the radii of the feed tube from the latter tube against Ithe inner wall of the discharge 'pipe above the level of the valve seat.

2. A ball cock having in combination a feed tube, a discharge pipe, a float-actuated valve member, a valve body engaging the inside of the feed tube and the outside of one end of the discharge pipe and holding the two tubes in concentric relation, such body having a valve seat normally closed by the end of the valve member and a plurality of radial ports normally closed by the sides of the valve member and discharging liquid from the feed tube against the inner wall of the discharge pipe above the level of the valve seat, and a washer on the feed tube engaging the other end of the discharge pipe confining it against endwise movement.

' GEORGE R. BENNETT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 752,314 Tozier Feb. 16, 1904 1,243,766 Schmidt Oct. 23, 1917 1,274,924 Michaels et al vAug. 6. 1918 1,527,429 Ericson Feb. 24, 1925 1,563,719 Buford Dec. 1, 1925 1,618,331 Gilchrist Feb. 22, 1927 1,641,756 Haas Sept. 6', 1927 2,290,145 Owens July 14, 1942 2,299,707 Svirsky Oct. 20, 1942 2,329,337 Criss Sept. 14. 1943 2,382,500 Owens Aug. 14, 1945 2,390,134 svirsky Dec. 4, 1945 

